Bringing Drum Set To Japan

I am wondering if anyone can offer some thoughts on the practical side of being a musician in Japan. Here in Canada I have a small home studio/practice space for my guitars/amps and drum set and I own my home which is not attached to any other homes. This means that I can play my guitars/drums any time without the worry of bothering neighbors. I expect that if I move to Japan I will likely not have a detached single family home but rather some other kind of situation (condo, etc) which means playing drums could be a real problem for my potential neighbors. So, what is a drummer to do? I know I will be living in a city so this is what I am wondering about. What do drummers in Japan do about this kind of noisy situation?

Thanks
Derek

I don't have any personal experience but got a couple of friends who play and they have electric kits or go to a studio and practise/rehearse. I think it would be pretty near impossible to play in a normal apartment. There are apartments built for specific purposes, one of which is for musicians wanting to practise. The room I saw was sound proof so that the person could play whatever they wanted, anytime of day or night. The rent I think is pretty expensive though. I only saw this on tv, so I don't know where they are located or anything.
Even living in a house, the neighbours are always close and I would imagine it would be hard to practise at home.
Someone else here might be able to give better advice.

You go rent a sound-proofed studio by the hour or by the day, I believe. I have seen some ads for apartments (in Saitama, in the suburbs of Tokyo) that have some degree of soundproofing for music college students, but I don't know even in those you can play "any time" - I mean some sound would go through walls so there would be rules.

Even with detached homes, the distance between homes here tends to be pretty close, you cannot play "any time."

http://www.musision.com/

They are not inexpensive but there are such apartments available.

When practicing at home, most skilled drummers seem to use the electronic drum set with the sound off. Beginners practice with telephone books and newspapers. Even those who are semi-pros hardly have a real kit. They may have a cymbal and bring it to the venue when they play and rent the rest from the venue.

Also, keep in mind that hitting and pounding things may upset the residents on the floor beneath you, so it might be best to try to live on the ground floor.

I knew a low-teen who'd, at home, practiced solely on newspapers and phone books, and then he'd come to his junior high school and play great professional X-Japan-type of fill-ins on the kit at school.

Of course, playing drums in Japan and making money out of it are totally different issues. The latter can be quite difficult. You need a side job, to say the least.

....sales in Japan of acoustic drum kits to drummers is virtually non-existent and only businesses providing rehearsal space are buying them. This is a very discouraging prospect for me as I have taken a great deal of time to build the kit I want (careful selection of pedals, drum heads, cymbals, shell packs, etc) and the prospect of resorting to pounding on phone books is not very encouraging. So it sounds as though drummers in Japan are probably hard to find people who are always on the search to borrow someone else's used equipment. I am wondering if I can rent and store my kit at a practice studio...does anyone know if this is being done?

Thanks
Derek

Hey man, I just arrived here 3 months ago and brought both my kits , and multiple snares, and tonnes of cymbals, and so on, and so on.
Anyhow, I have a house just outside of Tokyo and really cant play my drums unless theyre stuffed, and the cymbals are muted. I recommend buying something like the Sound-Off drum silencer set for starters, and if you are in a building geat a couple plys of thick rubber mats to absorb the kick. Your neighbours will most likely hear you though as Japanese homes do not have the same insulation as homes in Canada because of the climate difference. Unless you live in a nicely insulated sound proof home you are definately gonna run into some problems though.
I wish you all the best of luck with it broh!
J J

I work with musicians and certainly home practice can be noisy! If you need to practice with your set (and not an electric one which many use for practice purposes), see if it is possible to attach without damage, a sturdy bubble wrap to the walls and ceiling of the room you practice. I have many colleagues to use this method. It is cheaper and not so permanent as soundproof tiles. It is amazing how well this method works. Of course also you should not practice in evenings or nights as people may be sleeping! Another advice is to get to know your neighbors! One ex neighbor of mine played his TV so loud as he had hearing problems. I did not mind since he was nice. If you have crabby neighbors then it may be difficult. If you are inside downtown Tokyo, some buildings are relatively sound reduced as the city itself is noisy. I wish you luck and success in Japan!

The OP wrote on July 4th;
So it would seem that...sales in Japan of acoustic drum kits to drummers is virtually non-existent and only businesses providing rehearsal space are buying them

No, as mentioned, individuals do buy them, but they either keep them elsewhere or mute the kit. I recall that the low-teen kid I mentioned kept his brand new kit at school.